AzCoupe":12actbch said:
The owner is going to try to make the kits universal. What he wants to do, is a kit that has both exhaust pipes running straight back from a dual out header, which would make them paralell to each other. Then turn the pipes outward, so they exist just before the rear wheel. Possibly in a single out oval exhaust tip. Such a system would fit any inline six application, providing it has a dual out header, or could also be made as a single out just as easily.
This brings up an observation Ive made over the years...and really isnt limited to ford, the small chevy inline six's have the same result. Ive danced around this for a while, trying to figure it out myself but I give up.
You stick a crossover pipe, dual pipes, couple mufflers, usually flowmasters and you get one hell of a nice sound out of the small six engine, for that matter, stick one flowmaster on there and it will have a nice deep tone...do the same thing to the big six and you get what you expect, a different sounding tractor than the next guy
...why is that?
I initially thought it was the crossover pipe but Ive since realized that it plays a small role, mainly in loudness, not so much tone. I initially felt maybe it was the 3/4 exh port sharing a common port on the small six, "build in crossover" if you will....but then I hear the new aluminum head/or a head with the divider installed and realize, thats not it. At one point I thought maybe it was the camshaft but after hearing many stock engines with modified exhausts, thats not it either. Next thought was firing order but well, no, that cant be it. My last assumption has to do with the differences in vehicle ground clearance and sound waves....and still debating whether it also has to do with the pipe size itself. As I notice people are using 2.25/2.5" dual pipes on the small six, is it possible the exhaust is oversized and slowing the exhaust/sound deepening the tone....although a single flowmaster on a small six can really offer that deep tone too... that "not ricey at all is that a v8 under your hood sound"...so maybe thats not it either.
Im just curious, as Ive made changes to my 300 and tried to listen to as many combinations as possible and nothing is coming too close to the small six's ability to produce a deep, throaty sound..specifically small six with dual pipes/crossover pipe/flowmaster 40 or 50's and some generic turbos sound nice as well. Ive heard a few 300's with the dual flowmaster setup, less the crossover and it wasnt close, it still wanted to get buzzy in the upper (above a couple thousand) rpm...with one exception, one 300 was running dual 3" pipe with flowmasters and it was close...which makes me lean toward pipe size as being the crucial factor to attain "that sound".
Any thoughts?
I thought about making a 1 3 5/ 2 4 6 dual header but that still wouldnt explain why there is this dramatic difference between the small and big six engines, youd think the 50-100 extra cubes would make it sound better but...not so much. I havent heard a big six 240 to determine if maybe stroke is why this is happening but I think thats a stretch anyway.
